Magazine launches & events 1999

Magazines by cover date with most recent at top. Alphabetic list on right. Launches in other years.
  

Cosmopolitan Hair

Winter. National Magazines. £2.95;132 pages. Editor: Mandi Norwood
Brand extension with money-off vouchers
Nat Mags profile
Women's magazines case study

Newsweek E-Fife launch issue cover   

Newsweek e-Life

Winter 1999. Newsweek; Editor: Peter McGrath.
'The best stuff for your family'. Stuart Little, a computer-generated mouse from the eponomyous film, on the cover. Newsagents were advised on the cover: 'Keep on sale until January 3, 2000'
History of digital magazines

  

Incite

October. Computec Media US. £1.99(99p); 192 pages. Editor: Tasos Kaiafas
Two versions of launch issue: one with CD-Rom and a Lara Croft cover; the other at 99p with no CD-Rom and a wrestler, Kid Rock, on the cover

  

M – The Mirror Magazine

26 October. Editor: Tina Weaver. Free with Tuesdays Mirror. Sun ran spoilers: coupons for free BBC Good Homes on Oct 19; Sun Woman as newsprint tabloidpull-out on Oct 20. An example of growing competition for readers fromnewspaper supplements. Magazine later upgraded and moved to Saturday slot
Mirror profile

Jump launch issue cover   

Jump

October. Mollin/Weider. £1.20. Editor: Rebecca Martin. Chief sub-editor: Laleh Guilanpour. ProductionController: Louise Clay. Cover mount: nail art gift (£1.80); specialprice £1.20
Followed a limited edition preview posted to teenagers and dummy issue. Spice Girl Mel C on the cover. Coverlinesincluded: 'Top 10 footie pin-ups Pwhaaarr!'
Attempt to launch US title in UK based on US content and formula: closed December 2000. Other titles sold to Dennis
Mollin profile
Women's magazines case study

  

CosmoGirl! (US)

October/November. Hearst (US). Distributed by Comag. £3.50
Features: website: cosmogirl.com; 4 inserts; centrefold; college handbook; calendar
Nat Mags profile
Women's magazines case study

@Demon launch issue cover

@Demon

Autumn. Haymarket contract title for Demon, an internet service provider
History of digital magazines Haymarket profile

  

Your Car

Autumn. Gruner + Jahr; £2.50;196 pages. Editors: Julia Goodwin and Mark Payton.
'From the publishers of Prima and What Car? [Haymarket] New for women.' Lucky number 0906 competition on cover
Car magazines case study
Gruner + Jahrprofile

  

Escape Routes

Autumn. EMAP Elan. £2.40; pocket guide; offers;display bag
Travel magazines
Emap profile

The Net first issue cover   

The Net

August. Haymarket. £1.99, 148 pages. Editor: Tim McCann
Catherine Zeta-Jones cover. thenetmag.co.uk. A5 sampler distributed with Autocar 23 June issue; double-page advertisingspread in July Revolution, plus wraparound, both Haymarket titles.Closed October 2001
Haymarket profile

  

Top Car

July. Topmedia Publishing. £2.99 with CD-Rom.
www.topcar.com
Car magazines case study

Men's Fitness   

Men's Fitness

July. Mollin. £1 special; 148 pages. Editor: Ben Webb.
Monochrome cover with dayglo inkfor cover lines. Tagline: Get fit or feel s**t.
Mollin profile
Men's magazines case study

  

Cosmopolitan Real Life Stories

Summer. National Magazines. £2.95;100 pages. Editor: Mandi Norwood
Brand extension has seen Cosmopolitan launching a variety of spin-offs, such as Hair and Brides.Also, badging consumer goods, such as yoghurt and cars
Women's weeklies case study
Women's magazines case study

  

Internet Advisor

Future; £1.99; 116 pages. Editor: Cliff Douse
With CD-Rom
Digital History
Future profile

Heat on cocaine
Heat ran a roll-call of 30 celebs who had 'done it' as part of a special on cocaine
  

Heat on cocaine

5 June 1999. Issue 18. Emap. £1.25, 106 pages. Editor: Mark Frith 
From actor John Alford through Elton John to US chat show host Oprah Winfrey, Heat ran a roll-call of 30 celebs who had 'done it' as part of a special on cocaine. 'Unlike everyone else, we don't mean to judge or expose – we're just interested,' was how it introduced the four-page story. Contrast this attitude with The Face two years later.
The Face on cocaine
Emap profile

  

Celebrating Chelsea

May. Channel 4/Cabal. £3.95, 164 pages. Editor: Sarah Stacey
Backed television coverage of Chelsea Flower Show
Cabal profile

  

Procycling

May. Cabal. £2.95 with video.Editor: William Fotheringham
Bought by Future
www.procycling.com
Cabal profile
Future profile

New Eden first issue cover   

New Eden

May/June. IPC Magazines. £3.50 square A4 format. www.neweden.co.uk
Attempt to establish a 'contemporary gardens magazine failed when it closed in 2000
IPC profile

Jill Dando on Radio Times cover
The Radio Times the week of the killing showed Dando in a James-Bondesque pose with a 'murder' book club advert on the back

Jill Dando murder theory involved Radio Times
A theory reported in the Sunday Telegraph was that the 'Couldn't you just murder' advert allied to the Dando cover might have encouraged a deranged fan
  

Radio Times cover theory on Jill Dando murder

24-30 April. BBC, London. 79p; 140pp. Ed: Sue Robinson
Jill Dando, a popular BBC TV presenter of series such as Crimewatch, was shot dead on her doorstep in London on Monday, 26 April. It was front-page news, even for broadsheets such as the Guardian. She was on the cover of the Radio Times that very week promoting a new series, Antiques Inspectors.

An early theory was that her killing had been sparked by a message read from the front and back pages of the magazine (Sunday Telegraph, 2 May, p23). A fantasist who had posed as an SAS soldier, pretended to be a stuntman and claimed he was a cousin of Queen singer Freddie Mercury, was convicted for the murder in 2001. The judgment was quashed six years later and the man was acquitted at a retrial in 2008.

The Radio Times theory seemed to be disproved when it was noted in the trial that a copy of the Dando cover was not found at the accused's home.

The day after Dando's killing, an episode of A Life of Grime, in which environmental health officers had to deal with a rotting body, was postponed. The Radio Times was not withdrawn, probably because it was the last day on sale.
BBC Magazines profile

  

Take a Break Fiction Feast

April. Bauer. £1.20; 52 pages.
Very thin paper. Spin-off from the popular weekly, which included an advertisement for another example of brand extension, a music CD
Women's weeklies case study
Bauer profile

  

Nylon (US)

April. C/o The Standard Hollywood. US$2.99, £2.50 (Seymour).
The new magazine for women (and smart men). www.nylonmag.com

Level   

Level

4130 Publishing. £2.50, 100 pages. Editor: Chris Quigley
Second launch of the year after Blend for a publisher that was to makes its name in extreme sports.
4130 profile
Men's magazines A-Z

  

Rock Sound

April. Freeway Press. £1.95 offer price (£2.35)
With CD and bound-in A3 poster

  

Shine

April. Attic Futura. £2.40; 148 pages. Editor: Lucy Bulmer.
Taking a modern approach to health,beauty, body and soul'. With card cover and stylish make-up bag
Attic Futura profile
Women's magazines case study

ego first issue 1999 cover

Ego

March/April. Portfolio Magazines.£2.90, 164 pages. Editor: Marie Sim'one
Boxer Prince Nazeem on the cover of this men's launch. Adverts in Guardian with WHS Smith: 'Ego has landed at WHS'
Men's magazines case study

  

Chat Crime & Passion

March (no cover date). IPC. £1;60 pages. Editor: Keith Kendrick.
One of a series of Chat spin-offs;others included Get Fit & Fab and Juicy Fiction (bothat £1.10; Editor: Paul Merrill). Also, possible spoiler against Cabal proposed launch in the same area, which never appeared
Women's weeklies case study
IPC profile

flipside first issue 1999 cover

Flipside

March 6. Vedapoint Ltd. 90p. Tabloid fortnightly. Fancy cover: tabloid front, A4 back, similar to 1960s Rolling Stone format.
We are not your enemy. Turned into A4 stapled format with £1 price for issue 9 in June

GQ Rommel March 1999   

GQ Rommel controversy: editor sacked

March. Conde Nast. £2.90
'Sex and violence' issue. James Brown (ex-Loaded) gets the sack after 18 months, supposedly for featuring German WWII general Erwin Rommel in a piece on stylish men
Conde Nast profile
Men's magazines case study

Bopys Toys magazine launch issue   

Boys Toys

March/April. Freestyle. First issue. £2.70; 132pp. Editor: Kirsty Robinson
'Because you only live once'
Men's magazines case study

Neon launch issue cover   

Neon closes

February. Emap Metro
ABC sales figure to June 98 was 40,147, compared with Empire's 166,123
Emap profile

options magazine last issue 1999 cover

Options closes

February. IPC
Plan to develop Project B: new fashion title led by Deborah Bee, former editor of Scene. This became Nova in 2000
IPC profile
Women's magazines case study

  

Sunday Herald

7 February. Scottish Media Group
Rare launch of new Sunday paper in Scotland
Scottish newspapers
Sunday Herald case study

Heat first issue cover
Heat got off to a rocky start but soon became a celeb favourite. Pulp was a full dummy issue dated 13 November 1998
Pulp Heat dummy
Heat on cocaine
Heat named 30 celebs who had 'done it' – taken cocaine (June 1999)
  

Heat

6 February 1999. EMAP Metro. £1.25, 116 pages
'The ultimate weekly entertainment fix.' Was codenamed 'Project J' and got as far as being produced as a 108-page dummy with the name Pulp. Entertainment-based magazine aimed at 20-30-year-olds with sales target of 130,000.

Television advertising for the first issue, which showed people bursting into flames, led to 150 complaints from viewers, who said it was 'distressing' and 'totally inappropriate'. Emap said 'We have taken a surreal approach to the creative idea of reading the "hottest" new weekly entertainment magazine which covers the burning issues of the week.'
Women's weeklies case study
Emap profile


  

Woman Makeovers

January-March. IPC. £1.10. Editor: Julia Shaw (Woman 60p)
Brand extension for the popular weekly
Women's weeklies case study
IPC profile

  

Delux closes

January/February. Wagadon. £2.50, 132 pages. Launched in May 1998 as stapled men's magazine. Revamp in perfect-bound format failed. Wagadon later taken over by Emap
Wagadon profile
Men's magazines case study

Evo magazine launch issue cover   

Evo

January. MMC Ltd. £3; 164pages. Editor: John Barker
Later sold on to Dennis
Dennis profile
Car magazines

  

Blend

January 7. 4130 Publishing. £2.50
Style, music and travel
4130 profile

  

Observer

January
Sunday newspaper redesign. Escape travel section; Cash personal finance; overhaul. Start of an investment strategy by its new owners, The Guardian, that was to see it launch several monthly magazine supplements
Observer profile